By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — After surviving late-stage colon cancer, most people make sure they do something meaningful with the second chance they’ve been given. To Port Authority Police Officer Tore McCarthy, that meant becoming a member of the elite Emergency Services Unit.
McCarthy’s dream was realized Tuesday when he graduated from the agency’s emergency services academy and will now be called to the most dangerous incidents at the Port Authority’s airports, tunnels and bridges, from high-angle rescues to tactical and active shooter responses.
“I really want to do something that would be the most meaningful, so I did everything I could to get into this unit,” McCarthy, 30, told the Daily News Tuesday.
McCarthy is one of 10 Port Authority Police Department ESU graduates to be honored at the ceremony at Newark Liberty International Airport Tuesday.
After a brief stint with the NYPD, McCarthy, the son of retired NYPD Detective Lynn McCarthy, joined the PAPD in 2018. About two years ago he was diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer, he said.
“I had surgery, and they removed 17 inches of my lower intestine,” he said. “Then I went through chemotherapy, so I definitely wanted to get back to work. I’m not the type of person to sit around and do nothing, so getting back to work was important for me, so I put in for [ESU].
“The process was tough,” he said, “but I really wanted to do something meaningful.”
All through the intense, grueling training ESU candidates go through, McCarthy wanted to make sure he wasn’t treated any differently than his other classmates, so he didn’t tell anyone about the life-and-death struggle he just survived.
“I actually didn’t tell anyone,” he said. “I tend not to talk about it too much, so when someone finds out about it, it comes as a surprise. I don’t want [people] to feel bad.”
McCarthy will now be headquartered at Kennedy Airport and respond to any major emergency. He said Tuesday’s ceremony wasn’t about him but everyone who was honored that day.
“It’s not about me, it’s about all the guys who graduated today,” he said. “It’s about the instructors and my sergeant. It’s a testament to the guys that put in all the tremendous effort and hard work to train us. That’s what today is about.”
Standing proudly with McCarthy and his fellow ESU graduates were the Port Authority’s newest K-9 graduates, dogs named after PAPD officers who died on 9/11.
The highly trained K-9 dogs are named Nati and Tiej as a way of paying tribute to Officers Nathaniel Webb and Kenneth F. Tietjen, department officials said.
Officer Webb served for 28 years and was one of three Port Authority officers assigned to the Holland Tunnel who lost their lives on Sept. 11. Officer Tietjen was stationed at the PATH station in Midtown and commandeered a taxi to reach the World Trade Center. He helped evacuate victims, some severely burned, from the North Tower . He took the last available respirator and entered the South Tower moments before it collapsed.
Port Authority Police Deputy Superintendent Michael Brown said that ESU and the K-9 unit “are vital to the safety and security of the region we protect.”
“Their specialized training, rapid response capabilities and unwavering commitment allow us to address high-risk incidents, detect threats and ensure public safety with unmatched precision,” he said. “They are not just assets to the department — they are guardians of the millions who pass through our facilities every day.”
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